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Monday, 24 September 2018

Kavanaugh floats virginity defense amid sexual assault allegations

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh put forth an alibi Monday to try to shoot down claims that he sexually assaulted one woman while in high school and another while attending college: At the time of both alleged incidents, he was a virgin.

“We’re talking about allegations of sexual assault,” Kavanaugh told Martha MacCallum of Fox News during a joint interview with his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh. “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. I did not have sexual intercourse, or anything close to sexual intercourse, in high school or for many years thereafter…”

MacCallum then followed up on Kavanaugh’s assertion.

“So you’re saying through all these years that are in question that you were a virgin?” she asked.

“That’s correct,” Kavanaugh replied.

Two women — Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez — have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Neither has described their encounter as involving sexual intercourse.

In a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Ford described a high school party at which she said Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge locked her in a room at a home in suburban Maryland in the early 1980s.

“They locked the door and played loud music, precluding any successful attempts to yell for help,” Ford said in her letter. “Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with Judge, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state.”

Ramirez offered her account of sexual assault to the New Yorker magazine. Describing a party at Yale University, where she and Kavanaugh were enrolled at the time, Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself and thrust his penis in her face before she was able to push him away.

With what had once seemed a sure-fire confirmation process suddenly thrown into doubt, President Trump’s pick for the high court continued to sternly deny that he had acted inappropriately with either woman.

“I’m not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process, and we’re looking for a fair process where I can be heard and defend my integrity, my lifelong record,” Kavanaugh said during his remarkable appearance on Fox News, “my lifelong record of promoting dignity and equality for women, starting with the women who knew me when I was 14 years old. I’m not going anywhere.”

Ford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, after which Kavanaugh will have the opportunity to respond.